Sensex Sheds 311 pts, Nifty Below 18,700; Hero Moto, ZEEL Dip 4% Each – News18

Sensex Today: The S&P BSE Sensex started the day on a tentative note, but soon regrouped and touched a high of 63,311 – up near about 100 points. However, the gains were short-lived, the BSE benchmark slipped back into the negative zone on the back of heavy selling pressure, particularly in private bank stocks.

IT stocks too slipped after JP Morgan reiterated its negative stance on Indian information technology (IT) services and downgraded the sector to underweight. Among stocks, it has placed Infosys, TCS, MphasiS its ‘negative catalyst watch’.

The Sensex finally ended the day with a loss of 311 points at 62,918. The NSE Nifty 50 dipped to a low of 18,669, and eventually settled 68 points lower at 18,688. The Bank Nifty cracked 1.2 per cent.

The broader indices, however, managed to end the day on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index was up 0.3 per cent, and the Smallcap 0.1 per cent.

Global Cues

Wall Street closed mixed as the S&P 500 eked out a 0.08 per cent gain. The Nasdaq added 0.39 per cent while the Dow Jones lost 0.68 per cent.

Asian markets mostly rose with tepid gains this morning led by a 1 per cent jump in Hang Seng index. Meanwhile, China central bank cut its key medium-term lending rate by 10 bps after 10 months as the economy’s recovery remained uneven.